I wrote about a similar device a few years back, but it's decided to fail me now. Ironically this new one is by the same firm. Voting with your feet when it's a one horse race is somewhat difficult it seems.
Whatever I think of electrical goods that break and Lord knows, I've written about a few of their replacements just lately, I remain committed to keeping my electricity bill as low as I can. Not just for one of those 'interesting statistical reasons' that are bandied around either, e.g. 'remembering to turn off our TVs properly at the mains will save enough electricity to light Leicester'. Laudable though that is (unless you don't like Leicester), I'm more interested in the 'save enough electricity to light me' aspect. One of the few occasions when looking after 'Number One' is community-spirited too.
Last time I rooted around amongst the dust bunnies under my computer bench, there were eight (yes eight) appliances requiring power, including the desktop computer itself.
There were two printers, an outboard network drive, the monitor, the cable modem, the wireless router, the loudspeakers and the computer itself.
Now, not one of the peripherals needs to be powered if the computer isn't switched on. I know that some people like to leave their internet access running, which in my case would mean both the modem and the router, but I don't, and I'll cover why later.
So it would be pretty useful if someone made a bit of kit that turned it all off at the same time wouldn't it?
Well, OneClick do. Let me introduce you to the Intelligent 8-way panel*, which not only puts the seven 'other' appliances under the control of the computer, but it embodies mains-surge protection both the electronic devices plugged in and for for any telephone lines and Ethernet connections associated with the set-up.
(*Its predecessor was only a 6-way strip involving the use of a further adapter just to get them all connected, so to be honest, I'm none too sorry it's packed up as it was getting all too easy to kick it.)
Setting one up is dead easy. The computer itself gets plugged into the permanently live socket, which is clearly marked by being a different colour. The peripherals occupy the other seven sockets. On powering up the computer, by the usual switch on its front panel, the electronics within the OneClick sense a new higher power drain, and it uses this as its cue to switch everything else on.
Thus it can tell the difference between the minute amounts of current drawn by a PC whilst not in use (I assume that something must be live, otherwise, what powers the low voltage switch on the front panel that turns it all back on?), and the typical much larger drain once the hard drives et al kick in. The only time it can get fooled is after a power cut, or after someone inadvertently disconnects the single mains plug of the unit. Then you need to go through this 'one-off' install process again.
CONNECTING UP
Well, the mains plugs are the easiest bit. The computer plugs into the permanent live, marked in black, and the rest can be plugged in just about anywhere.
Cleverly, there are two sockets spaced a little wider to cater for those pesky AC/DC adapters which proliferate these days. The two rows of four sockets sit head to head, pointing cables away from each other, which is also useful. Compared to the old model, this is 'better by design'.
To protect your broadband network, both ADSL and cable have been catered for. In the case of the former, you plug the telephone line in to the appropriate socket, and then connect both the telephone itself and your modem (or modem-router) into separate labelled sockets. Note: You do this before any ADSL filters are fitted in line. Filters should be attached afterwards. To their credit, Oneclick do actually go to the trouble of supplying you with both an extra length of network cable and and an end-to-end telephone cable, so you don't have to wait for the Maplin shop to open before you can get your system fully protected.
In the case of cable broadband, you just connect the output from the modem to one Ethernet socket and the input to your PC's network card (or router if you use one) to the other. In the case of cable broadband, just about the only thing not protected is the coaxial input from the street to the modem, but since Virgin own the modem, that's their problem and in any case, since a huge proportion of their network is fibre, it's only the last hundred yards or so of buried cable that's actually metal and therefore capable of receiving a 'jolt'.
BENEFITS
Quite apart from neatness under the desk, this does indeed save a considerable amount of electricity over the life of the appliance. OneClick estimate that from every power-saving device they've sold, each has saved the unnecessary injection of 50 kilos of CO2 into the atmosphere, let alone paid for itself many times over during the estimated 15-year life of the Intellipanel in electricity savings.
Other research tends to indicate that items left on standby age 15% faster before developing a fault. There are arguments for and against this, many of them relating to wear and tear of the on/off switch, e.g. on TVs.. My own TV for example one uses a tiny 0.7 watts on standby, and you could argue that anything likely to bring forward the date it needs a repair (no doubt 'uneconomic' by then), i.e. frequent use of a real switch, could mean that somebody somewhere is going to have to build yet another TV.
However, something that turns the mains off at source doesn't actually use the physical on/off switch.
OneClick make a big play of the quality of the components used, which presumably is how they can state a projected 15-year life. This is, however not reflected in the standard one-year warranty! To be fair, the previous model did at least have the good grace to last four years, so at least it must have paid for itself a few times over
IN USE
There's not a lot to tell really. You turn on your PC and after a brief wait, everything else comes on. You turn off your PC, and after a wait long enough to let any printers 'park' properly, everything else turns off.
End of story.
OTHER VERSIONS
The Intellipanels come in three versions.
a) Desktop PC - as I've described
b) Laptop PC - You shouldn't plug a laptop's charger into the desktop version. It doesn't matter if the laptop is running or not, the charger will produce a current demand that will be interpreted as a PC 'still running' all the time that it is charging the laptop battery. Therefore, the laptop version provides for another means of detecting that it's been turned off, and it does this by connecting to the telephone modem on the laptop, which for home use is largely redundant these days. Once the modem shuts down, this is taken as the signal to turn everything off.
c) TV/AV version. In theory, you COULD use the desktop PC version for a typical home hi-fi of 'separates'. After all, you could make the amplifier the 'PC', and have this turn everything else, CD-players, tape-decks (remember them?), off. However, in the case of a TV/AV set-up where the TV is the governing force, there's one fatal flaw - you don't want any VCRs, Sky+ boxes or Freeview PVRs getting turned off thereby failing to make recordings. Therefore, a permanent live socket is provided for such things, and the on/off process is controlled by an infra-red sensor that 'learns' the on/off signal being sent from your TV's remote control.
In addition to Intellipanels, OneClick make 'Intelliplugs', which are a smaller version for those with only a couple of peripherals. These look more or less like 3-way mains adapters.
KNOCK-ON EFFECTS
For obvious reasons when an Intellipanel is fitted, once you turn your PC off, everything gets a clean re-boot next time.
I've lost count of the number of people who've called me with an Internet problem which was cleared merely by turning their modem-router on and off. When asked why they don't turn it off, they usually reply that the 'kids like it left on, so their iPods, PS3s etc can get the internet'.
Leaving your wi-fi access to your broadband running 24/7 gives ne'er-do-wells all the time in the world to try hacking your encryption password, giving them access to the broadband you pay for, and worse still, a view of your PC's C:\drive unless you've got this stuff well 'strapped down'.
The other advantage of a totally 'cold re-boot' is that the process of IP address allocation starts all over again, rather than taking the next address available. Over time, there's a chance that you could exceed the numbering range merely by turning everything EXCEPT the router on and off. I've noticed for example that if I turn one of my printers (both networked) on and off for some reason, it doesn't come back with the same IP address. The next 'free' one on the list is used, which in extreme cases can give me fire-walling problems if I've set a 'safe-range' of permitted addresses. This could of course be why I get all those calls that are cured with a reboot of someone's router.
No, a cold reboot suits me!
NIGGLES
Only one really. Despite their best efforts to cater for bulkier AC/DC mains adapters 'built-in' to a plug, I have one which requires about 2 inches of room above the earth pin, so it still can't be connected directly to the Intellipanel as it clashes with the top of the plug on the other row.
The solution is to sit it atop one of those 3-way block adapters just to raise it above the plug with which it vies for space. None too elegant, but at least it still gets to play its role in 'Operation Switch Off'
SUMMARY
Any one of the three types of Intellipanel is a neat way of bringing together up to 8 related bits of electronic gear.
The way the two ranks of four sockets face head-to-head with leads facing away makes for maximum use of space with none of those annoying clashes that you get with some other adapters.(Some, as mentioned above still give a problem)
All three give protection against mains surge, and the computer variants can protect telephone and broadband circuits, whilst the TV version can protect an antenna instead, although not a satellite down-lead.
It would be difficult to quantify the savings, as I'm replacing something rather getting into the habit of using one in the first place, but if I recall, my PC system's standby current even with the PC turned off was 90 watts - something to do with the laser printer keeping itself nice and warm in case it was wanted. An Intellipanel only uses about 0.4 watts to monitor the power needs of 8 items. It doesn't take a genius to see that it could therefore be expected to save around 2 kilowatt/hours aka 'units' every 24 hours that the system is not needed. Even if it's in use 12 hours a day, you still save a unit of 'lecky' a day for an expenditure of around £25 if you know where to look. It therefore seems pretty certain (especially since the price of electricity only knows one direction) that it will pay for itself during its warranty year.
Anything else is a bonus!
Incidentally, beware of buying second-hand ones off e-bay, obviously by now, un-warrantied, when the www.oneclickpower.com web-site will sell you one of what they call 'Grade-A' stock (customer returns, demo models etc) for about £23.44, which is a considerable saving on the RRP of £39.95 whilst retaining a one year warranty.
Turn It Off, Or Leicester Gets it! 
